“I don’t want to let our customers down. When customers are disappointed, it feels like a knife cutting into my heart,” said Pang Dong Lai’s president and founder, Yu Donglai.
However, their reputation took a sharp turn on the evening of June 25 when a customer reported on Douyin that the food processing environment for rolling dough at a Pang Dong Lai outlet in Xinxiang in Henan was unsanitary.
A traditional snack known for its chewy and soft texture, rolling dough is made by fermenting dough to create noodles that are typically served with soy sauce, vinegar and chili.
According to the Douyin video, at the offending Pang Dong Lai outlet raw materials for making rolling dough were stored in rusty iron barrels and dirty plastic buckets haphazardly placed on the floor.
The dough was also kept in an uncovered plastic container surrounded by beverage bottles and cardboard, with staff wearing non-sanitised clothing.
As controversy raged, Pang Dong Lai released the results of an investigation into the matter on their official WeChat account on June 27.
They revealed that the merchant was a joint venture partner who had violated the cooperation contract by secretly changing the processing location without approval.
The company has since dismissed the staff involved and cancelled their bonuses.
Most surprising to online observers was the generous levels of customer compensation involved.
The customer who reported the food safety issue was given a cash reward of 100,000 yuan (US$14,000).
Every customer who bought the food item was given 1,000 yuan, which amounted to a total of 8.8 million yuan.
Pang Dong Lai’s reaction has reinforced consumer trust online.
One online observer said: “Compensating more than eight million yuan for rolling dough? I’m a local, and I think it’s crazy.”
“Maybe they lost money in the short term, but in the long term, everyone will trust that the product quality of Pang Dong Lai is guaranteed,” said another.
“If I had known, I would not have bought stocks, I would have bought 800 portions of rolling dough!” joked another.
It is not the first time Pang Dong Lai has made headlines for the care they show to employees and customers.
In March, the company’s president, Yu, announced the introduction of “unhappy leave”, in effect, time off if they were feeling down.
Previously, Pang Dong Lai also attracted nationwide attention by establishing a “Grievance Award,” which compensates employees with between 5,000 and 8,000 yuan (US$700 and US$1,100) for enduring unreasonable complaints and treatment from customers.